Proverbs 8:14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:
21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Every so often you have to mention the name of a false teacher. There are so many of them, but a few seem to have risen to a place of prominence. There is one from California named Jack Hibbs. He is definitely a false teacher. He is associated with a popular Jewish false teacher as well. He has an article out now entitled “False Prophets Are Coming”. I have not read the article. I do not need to read the article. I know enough about the man to know that he is a false prophet. For him to try to warn about false prophets is a bit rich. Yet he is a respected speaker for many. His church is part of the “Calvary Chapel” group. They are all false churches. They can attract large crowds because they run like a social club. They have the wild music and their leaders dress down so as not to “offend” anyone or else to look cool.
If you want to know about false prophets, you take the Bible as your authority. Jesus warned of false teachers and false prophets. The apostles also warned about those who would preach another Jesus. Most people are quite content to follow another Jesus.
The wise person accepts God’s counsel. His wisdom is sound. He does not just offer sound wisdom. He is sound wisdom. He also has strength. He has the strength of character to remain faithful and true regardless of the pressure. It is not humanly possible to stand strong for the Lord. Peter could not do it at Jesus’ trial. Earlier he declared he would never betray Him. Yet he did it three times in one night. He went out and wept bitterly. He was much better after he was baptized with the Holy Ghost, but in Galatians 2 Paul still needed to rebuke him publicly for his hypocrisy.
In verse 15 of our text, God declares that kings rule by him. Princes decree justice by His authority. It is interesting that wicked men like our P.M. can sometimes make a good statement. Not because he wants to do that. He would never make a good statement if it was left up to him. However, God is in charge. He stops wicked people from fulfilling all their wicked plans.
Princes and nobles rule by God’s authority. When we look at our P.M. or the Premiers, the only reason they are there is because God says they can be there. None of them is a worthy ruler. They are all too interested in their own success and they are too interested in finding a way to compromise to keep their success going. God loves mankind and He does not want anyone to go to hell. He sets up certain rulers for His purposes so that even though they are wicked individuals, His work can still go forward.
In verse 17 we see that God loves those that love Him. True saints have a special relationship with God. He does not want people to go to hell. He gives all people the opportunity to hear and know the truth. Those who turn to Him, receive His love and in turn they love Him. No one would love God without His work in their heart.
I John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
God further tells us that those who seek Him early shall find Him. They shall find His wisdom. The younger the person is when they get saved, the better off they will be; the less corruption there will be in their background. A person does not need to experience sin before he can help others involved in sin. We just need to be saved and believe what God says.
In verse 18 we see that riches and honour are found in possessing God’s wisdom. We know that king Solomon was a very wealthy king. He was also greatly honoured. He lost that due to his idolatry. Near the end of his life Jeroboam became a threat to him. He was not the only one. Jeroboam fled Israel until Solomon died. Solomon did not die with a clean record. He started his kingship in a good way, but he failed to maintain that.
The fruit of wisdom is better than gold. You can buy corruptible things with gold. You cannot buy peace and true joy. God’s wisdom will provide true peace and joy for the one who lives by it. Even fine gold is not worth what God’s wisdom is.
We see that God’s riches are durable. Jesus declared:
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
We are living in a more dangerous time today. A while back the Toronto police advised homeowners to leave their key fobs close to the door so that when a thief breaks in they can find them easily and they likely won’t ransack the whole house.
A land owner in Manitoba was recently charged for defending his property from thieves. The police there said that it would be better to call the police and find a safe place to wait for them to come. Our laws are so corrupt that too often the thief gets a slap on the wrist and the home owner has to spend his hard earned money to go and replace the stolen items. That is not justice.
God’s riches cannot be stolen. In fact few people want God’s riches. Few people want His wisdom.
God leads in the way of righteousness. Righteousness is that which is right and good. There is no flaw in righteousness. Receiving God’s wisdom will lead you in that way of righteousness. Mr. Carney has to stand in front of the cameras and lie to the people about his deal with the Gordie Howe bridge and the failure of the trade deal. He lies about his successes in making deals with other countries. A deal written on paper is worth nothing. Unless there is actual evidence of the benefits of that deal it means nothing. Canada has had a very successful trading relationship with the U.S. for a long time. In fact it has been a lopsided deal. Canada refuses to allow certain products into Canada because they do not believe that Canada’s products are good enough to compete. In fact within Canada, provinces have trade barriers up because they are so insecure they do not believe their products can compete with those of another province. If we would operate under God’s wisdom, we would have people who would know how to make superior products that the consumer would want to purchase and they would easily compete with those who make inferior products. Chinese products are generally very inferior to what we can produce in our country. However, Chinese products are cheaper than what we can produce here because they have slave labour and we have overpriced labour. Unions are a poison to any country.
In verse 21 we see that God’s wisdom will cause the recipient to inherit substance. It will not be junk. It will be something of real value. God’s treasure will fill the heart and soul of the recipient. True saints will recognize true value. The lost do not see that.
Pastor Bartel